About the Universal Life Church

The Universal Life Church Monastery (ULC) is a non-denominational, non-profit religious organization famous worldwide
for its provision of free, legal ordinations to its vast membership over the internet. The
ULC, recognizing the importance of maintaining open hearts and minds, embraces any individual, no matter his or her
spiritual background, who wishes to become a member of this family of faith. Since its founding, the Universal Life
Church has ordained more than 20 million ministers.

The ULC has also become renowned for its role as a champion of religious freedom, social justice, and spiritual
expression. While the Universal Life Church Monastery has become a global leader in these fields, it largely
attributes that status to the commitment and competence of the millions of empowered ministers brought together in a
world tent of togetherness.

The Universal Life Church is headquartered in Seattle, Washington — from which it performs and records all
ordinations, ships out minister supplies like Ordination
Credentials and Letters of Good Standing, and fights
daily for the rights of its ministers and persecuted individuals everywhere.

Who We Are

Over 20 million ministers worldwide have become ordained with the Universal Life
Church. The ULC is open to people of all faiths, offering everyone the religious freedom to
become an ordained minister and practice your beliefs. As a minister, you have the authority to
perform weddings, funerals, baptisms, or even start your own ministry. Join the active ULC
community by completing your free online ordination today.

It is important for ministers to know the legal basis of their status of being an
ordained minister. I am discussing only the legal status of ordination because it is the same for
everyone. Denominations and independent churches encourage the view that ordination is some special
status, anointed or selected by God, set apart, holy or sacred, or anything else they may use to
make
ordination different from the common man. There is nothing special legally. Ordination is not even
required in some denominations and status as a rabbi or designated individual is sufficient to
entitle
an individual to officiate marriages.

Ordination Training

Our Mission

The Universal Life Church was founded on the basic belief that we are all children of the same universe and,
derived from that basic belief, has established two core tenets by which it expects its ministers to conduct
themselves:

Do only that which is right.

Every individual is free to practice their religion in the manner of their choosing, as mandated by the First
Amendment, so long as that expression does not impinge upon the rights or freedoms of others and is in
accordance with the government’s laws.

We have made it our mission to actualize these tenets in the world by empowering millions of ministers, whether they
come to us from a Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, Jewish, Catholic, Shinto, Agnostic, Atheist, Pagan, Wiccan, or Druid
tradition, to speak their own truth to power. We work tirelessly to ensure that anyone can get ordained online at the ULC Monastery and we seek to fulfill the spiritual needs of as
many different groups as we can by offering plenty of information, a wide variety of services, and networking
opportunities. The communication and fellowship of our scattered millions of ministers, we believe, is just as valid
a form of worship as the weekly services held in some of the world’s more segregated and elitist religious
institutions.

Our History

The Universal Life Church Monastery is the largest and most active direct descendant of the original Universal Life
Church founded by the controversial Kirby Hensley in the late 1950s. This new Universal Life Church has discarded
the deceptive and illegal practices of the old Modesto ULC and it has since proudly assumed the leadership mantle of
that institution and improved upon its design — transforming the ULC into an ethical and inspiring beacon of
freedom and justice around the world. We have been able (and continue) to mobilize our millions of ministers to act
as champions of society’s underdogs and oppressed as the legacy of Christ, King, Kennedy, and Gandhi taught. Unlike
other international churches our size, we will never ask our ULC ministers or congregants to bow before us or kiss
our rings and we steadfastly reject the idea that a church’s members should be made to obey the commands of any
central leadership structure — we are all equal.

While proud of the work we’ve done and the victories we’ve won in areas like religious freedom and the legalization
of same-sex marriage, we are far more excited by and interested in discussing our hopes for plans for the
future.

Moving Forward

The Universal Life Church will continue to ordain and empower hundreds of ministers every day. The ULC will also
continue to fight for the rights of these ministers on a daily basis — ensuring that all individuals have the
freedom to take control of their own religious/spiritual life.

In addition to its continued provision of assistance to charitable organizations, the
Universal Life Church Monastery will also continue to provide a voice to and fight for the rights of those whose
freedoms are being violated around the world. We continue our battle to ensure that residents of all 50 states are
permitted to become ministers under often antiquated and biased legal systems. Additionally, the war rages on to
ensure that any individual, regardless of his or her gender, should be permitted to marry any individual of his or
her choosing.

In closing, we need your prayers. We know where we are going, and we hope you will join us — because we could
use your help! If there is anything you would like to see added to this website which will help you grow
spiritually, please feel free to contact us.